115. Why We Take Things for Granted: A Personal Reflection

Have you ever thought that someone has taken you for granted? Well, what if I were to tell you that you might be that someone?

Today, we change our own perspectives. Today, we prevent our loved ones to be victims of being taken for granted.

Today, we make our lives just a bit better, but giving ourselves the shift we all need just to be a bit more grateful.

“We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

― Cynthia Ozick

A lot of streaks have been broken these past few weeks.

This was the first time since I took a week off work in almost a year.

This was the first duration where I didn’t write anything here in more than 52 weeks.

And.. this was the first time ever I went under the knife to get my knee fixed up.

Sounds like a solid reason to slack off for some time, right?

I should hope so.

These past few weeks have given me a lot of time to kick back and realise the enormity of life itself. The first couple of weeks were tough. I was completely dependent on my family to do the most basic stuff. Honestly, I am not used to that. I like to think I can & should do most of the things I need for survival myself. Not having that ability just didn’t sit right with me.

However, as I said, I had a lot of time to just kick back, and consequently, I had a lot of time to think. I couldn’t do much, but I did think. A lot. And that’s when something clicked in me.

I realised everything I considered to be “basic” for me, had a lot of intricacies. Intricacies that didn’t make themselves visible until the time I actually sat down & thought about them.

Take getting your first cup of coffee for the day, for instance. At the surface level, it’s just coffee. But let’s break it down.

Step 1: Get up from where you are sitting.

Step 2: Walk over to the kitchen.

Step 3: Pick up the coffee.

Step 4: Get a spoon.

Step 5: Take the coffee from the container & put it in the cup.

Step 6: Boil some water.

Step 7: Pour the water in the cup.

This by the way, is just black coffee made with instant coffee. God help me if I were to actually lay out the number of steps to make a cappuccino with a properly brewed espresso shot. I guess this is why coffee chains make so much money.

I digress, but the fact is that there are many minute things that we take completely for granted. Things like standing up, walking, being able to get your own cup of coffee.

Why is that though? We’re evolved human beings. Why do we allow ourselves to be in positions to lose touch with reality like this?

My theory is that because these things become so automated in our heads, we lose awareness of ourselves doing these things. What we don’t register in our minds as important things, gets filtered out in favour of other, more relevant things.

We have all met someone who doesn’t realise how much other people do for them. They are always complaining, making everything out to be the end of the world. In my very humble opinion, these are people who exhibit scarcity of self-awareness. They have become disconnected with the true dependence they have on other incumbents of society.

The less self aware we are, the more prone we are to taking other, more important facets of our lives for granted.

Things like gratitude for having a job, or the people around us, who love and care about us.

Even in my own scenario, I struggled with my dependence on others, only to realise I will always be dependent on them, no matter what. My happiness & satisfaction are linked to them, and hence, they are completely indispensable.

Getting a surgery gave me the shift in perspective that my family does so much for me, all out of love. And I never want to take that for granted.

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one. 🙂